Bombings kill 26 in Baghdad area

BAGHDAD - Bombings in and around the Iraqi capital, including two car bombs near a football field, killed at least 26 people and wounded more than 60 others on Thursday, security and medical officials said. With the latest violence, more than 210 people have been killed and over 550 wounded in attacks in February, according to an AFP toll based on security and medical sources. An interior ministry official said one car bomb exploded near a football field in the Shuala area of Baghdad, followed by a second after security forces arrived at the scene. The blasts killed at least 19 people and wounded at least another 30, medical officials said.

In Mahmudiyah, south of Baghdad, a militant detonated a hand grenade when people attempted to arrest him, and five bombs exploded nearby, killing at least two people and wounding at least seven, security and medical officials said. Two roadside bombs also exploded in the Shurta al-Rabea area of south Baghdad, killing one person and wounding seven, while a car bomb in Aziziyah, southeast of Baghdad, killed one person and wounded 17, officials said. No group claimed responsibility for the string of attacks.